Reduce the physical and cognitive effort required from users to achieve their goals. Your users will accomplish their goals with less frustration and greater ease.
…the easiest way to reach a goal is to remove the obstacles.
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Why minimise user effort?
- Increase efficiency: By enabling people staff to complete tasks faster, productivity is improved
- Error reduction: Simpler online processes lower the risk of mistakes and result in a reduction in support calls
- Encourages inclusivity: Reducing physical effort and cognitive load benefits all users regardless of ability
- Encourages adoption and retention: When a product is easy to use, more people will use it and encourage others to do so
How to minimise user effort
Developers
- Optimise performance to reduce load times and lag
- Implement intuitive defaults and smart autofill options
Business Analysts (BAs)
- Gather and prioritise user pain points related to effort and friction
- Map user journeys to identify unnecessary complexity
- Advocate for data-driven decisions to simplify workflows
Product Owners & PMs
- Prioritise features that reduce user effort in backlogs
- Continuously validate solutions with real user feedback
- Align KPIs with usability metrics, such as time to complete tasks
Designers
- Use clear, intuitive UI layouts to guide users effortlessly
- Reduce cognitive load with simple language and visual hierarchy
- Ensure accessibility best practices to support all users
